NY Giants under pressure: These 5 players will face the most scrutiny heading into Week 1

EAST RUTHERFORD - Saquon Barkley commands the spotlight. Daniel Jones has gotten plenty used to being in that spotlight from the third game of his NFL career when he replaced Eli Manning as quarterback of the Giants.

So for Barkley and Jones, when the lights go on inside MetLife Stadium for the 2023 season opener against the Cowboys, the franchise's pair of offensive stars will undoubtedly find themselves front and center.

That's pretty much a given on "Sunday Night Football," and before too long, maybe as soon as Week 1 if the rest of the league wakes up, Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence are going to find their way into that category, too.

But what about the five players for the Giants about to face the most scrutiny on opening night, on whom the spotlight will shine most intense? Let's take a look:

Evan Neal, RT

Neal fought through injury and plenty of hiccups in a challenging indoctrination to the NFL, the roughest outing of which came in Week 3 against the Cowboys when they picked up three sacks of Jones rushing on his side.

The Giants believe he is poised not only for a rebound this season, but a leap, and what better setting to kick that off than against the defensive front that gave him nightmares last year. The 6-foot-7 Neal is at 345 pounds, eight down from his playing weight as a rookie. He's altered his stance to gain more fluidity and quickness, and you can bet every one of his snaps will be broken down and analyzed afterward.

A clean game from Neal will go a long way toward validating his development as a player.

John Michael Schmitz, C

Schmitz won the competition at center with Ben Bredeson in the joint practices in Detroit and the two preseason games that followed. He continues to show physicality at the point of attack with a willingness to seek out blocking targets at the second level. There were not any communication issues of which to speak the entire, either.

Once Schmitz got through the early struggles against the dominance of Lawrence, he settled into the job and is seemingly poised to give the Giants their first true center as a starter since Weston Richburg. Still, it's going to be different in a game that counts in the standings, and any hiccups will be magnified.

Kayvon Thibodeaux, OLB

Thibodeaux joked last season that "prime time loves me," yet his dominant performance against Washington late in the year probably stands to prove he was more serious that initially thought. He made his pro debut against the Cowboys in Week 3 of last year and was held to one tackle, still recovering from an MCL injury suffered in the preseason.

When the two teams met on Thanksgiving, Thibodeaux had five quarterback hits and was all over Dak Prescott.

There's no better time for Thibodeaux to start quick and do his part in making Prescott uncomfortable, considering the Cowboys' quarterback has won 10 consecutive starts against the Giants since he was swept as a rookie in 2016.

Adoree' Jackson, CB

The presence of first-round rookie Tae Banks and the surprisingly-fast emergence of sixth-round rookie Tre Hawkins III has afforded Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale the opportunity to move Jackson inside as the nickel corner. That matters against the Cowboys more than other opponents with star receiver CeeDee Lamb lining up a ton in the slot.

Jackson comes into the season as the Giants' No. 1 cover man, so in this case, starting Banks and Hawkins on the boundary will allow Martindale to shadow Lamb much of the way he did Justin Jefferson in the playoff victory over the Vikings in January. There will be plenty of attention on Jackson in that spot, given the importance of the first-time captain's contributions with a pair of corners making their pro debuts on the outside.

Xavier McKinney, S

McKinney enters his fourth season in the final year of his rookie deal. He's a two-time captain and one of the more respected players on the Giants. His profile as a playmaker is higher internally than around the league at the moment, though, so any opportunity McKinney has to show he can be an impact player is precious.

Playing with Jason Pinnock alongside him at safety, McKinney will get the chance to make plays in coverage - as he did with his fourth-down stop of T.J. Hockenson in Minnesota to clinch that win - but his presence in the box could shake things up and really make observers take notice.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Giants: These 5 players face the most pressure vs. Dallas in Week 1